The ante-room contained two bookcases and a large, mahogany rack containing news-sheets. On glancing at these he found that they were the files of the Moniteur for several months past; so he spread out some of the sheets on the table and began to look through them.
He already knew that in the previous June there had been a further change in the Directory and another bloodless revolution, termed the coup d'etat of JPrairial. Now he was able to follow its course through the official reports of speeches in the Five Hundred and, from his knowledge of the principal participants, more or less read between the lines what had taken place.
It was clear to him that, when Rewbell had retired from the Directory in May, the Abbe Sieyes—then the Ambassador of France in Berlin—had been elected in his place, not because the remaining Directors wanted him but because the Assembly had forced him upon them.
That they had done so was further evidence of the country's desperate desire for an end of corruption and inefficiency. Sieyes at least had a reputation for honesty and, although he was cunning enough to make few public pronouncements, he was credited with profound wisdom. The Directory had failed so dismally as a form of government that it was felt on all sides that a change in the Constitution was long overdue. Who could produce one with more likelihood of converting the muck-heap inherited from the Revolution into a modern Utopia than this dry-as-dust little Abb6 who, for years, had posed as another Solon? Moreover while on the one had he had never been an active terrorist, so would curb the Jacobins, on the other he was a veteran anti-Royalist and had voted for the King's death, so could be trusted to preserve the principles of the Revolution.
But by the time Sieyes had arrived from Berlin new elections had taken place, greatly strengthening the Jacobin Party in the Five Hundred. They had violently denounced the Directory and forced through a law restoring freedom to the Press. This had led to scores of articles and pamphlets appearing, attacking the Directory and especially the opposition to reform displayed by Larevelliere, Merlin and Treilhard. Sieyes had obviously seen the necessity for getting rid of them, and Barras, playing as ever for his own hand, must have aided him.
As a first step, although Treilhard had served on the Directory for a year, an illegality disqualifying him from holding office was suddenly discovered, and Gohier, a staunch Republican who had formerly been a Minister of Justice, was elected in his place. Then, on the 30th of Prairial, they had put on the time-worn act of sending a message to the two Chambers, declaring the country ' to be in dangerUproar had followed and that evening, to prevent bloodshed. Larevelliere and Merlin had agreed to resign. To succeed them the Councils had elected Roger Ducos—who, like Sieyes, never committed himself to anything for which he might later be called to account—and General Moulins, a morose and incompetent man who had been put up because he was too stupid to prove a menace to anyone.
If the object of all these intrigues, vitriolic articles and nightlong hurling of insults in the Two Chambers had been to introduce a more moderate form of government, then it had failed dismally. The Jacobins, not so much through numbers as by threats of violence, now dominated the Five Hundred, and both the Anciens and the Directory appeared incapable of controlling them.
They had resurrected the Jacobin Club. Over one hundred and fifty Deputies joined it and its sessions were held in the Manege, where Danton had thundered, Robespierre had advocated merciless decrees and the King's death had been voted. They had formed a Committee of Eleven which was laying claim to the powers of the old Committee of Public Safety. All this had the full approval of the two fanatically Republican Directors—Gohier and Moulins—and three Generals of the first rank—Bernadotte, Jourdain and Augereau—belonged to their party.
Their attitude was typified by the Law of Hostages, which they had succeeded in pushing through in July. Hoche, by securing a degree of toleration for the Catholics in La Vendee, had at last succeeded in pacifying Brittany; but the Government had not kept its side of the bargain, so fresh disturbances had broken out there. To suppress them it had been decreed that, in the twelve rebellious Departments, the Republican authorities should choose hostages from among the relations of emigres and ci-devant nobles. These innocent people were to be imprisoned forthwith. Then, for every Republican killed by the partisans, four hostages were to have their entire property seized and to be transported to Cayenne.
The Jacobins were hated by the vast majority of the people, but they were also feared; for their ruthless minority included among its members not only Directors, Generals and many
Deputies, but a great number of officials in the administration and the police. It was reported that at the Cafe Godeau, near the Tuileries, the revolutionaries who assembled there had vowed that they would slaughter ten thousand victims to the shade of Robespierre, and that they drank nightly to a return to the days of '93 when they would again see the guillotine at work in the Place du Carrousel.
As Roger absorbed this, he no longer had cause to wonder how it was that a man with Joseph Fouches record had succeeded in getting himself made Minister of Police.
It was past midnight when Talleyrand appeared. Despising cloth for evening wear as plebeian, he was dressed in wine-coloured satin and, indifferent to the jibes of the Jacobins, still wore his hair powdered. Raising his quizzing-glass on its broad black ribbon, he eyed Roger through it from the doorway, bowed and said with a smile:
' My poor friend, I am told you have been waiting here for
hours. If only I had known-'
' But you did not/ Roger said quickly, ' and it is I who should apologize for bothering you at such an hour. I trust, though, that you will give me a few minutes, as the matter is urgent.'
' Why, certainly. But what do I see? ' The statesman's glance fell on the table. ' Cold Claret and a few biscuits. My people have neglected you shamefully. This is no fit fare for that gallant soldier '' le brave Breuc ".'
Roger flushed slightly. ' I've done little to earn such an appellation and wonder that anyone should have told you of it.'
' One hears things, you know; one hears things.' Talleyrand turned to the footman behind him. ' Henri, have the centres of some brioches removed and the shells stuffed with foie-gras; and fetch a bottle of champagne from the ice locker.' Turning back to Roger, he added:
' Champagne is the only possible drink after midnight. Tell me now; in what way can I be of service to you? '
' It seems,' Roger replied, ' that you have heard something of the way in which I have risked my life several times during the past seventeen months. May I ask whether you are now fully convinced about what I told you when last we met—that, since joining General Bonaparte's Staff, I have regarded myself as a Frenchman? '
' Why, yes. That is, dear friend, as fully convinced as my unhappily low assessment of human nature ever allows me to be about anything. But at least I know you to be no fool. Having laid the foundations of such a promising career for yourself in France, I cannot think you would be so stupid as to risk throwing it away by aiding France's enemies.'
11 am relieved to hear it; for one person remains who, like yourself, knows that I am Admiral Brook's son. And I have reason to fear that he intends to ruin me.'